更长、更窄航线对MRO的影响

十年来，航空公司机队主要朝着更大规格的窄体飞机发展。与此同时，飞机制造商扩大了单通道航线的覆盖范围，为低成本及其他航空公司打开了市场大门，使它们能够比过去开拓更遥远的市场以及更长、更窄的航线。

Over the past decade, the dominant trend in airline fleet strategy has been toward larger narrowbody aircraft. Meanwhile, aircraft manufacturers have extended the range of their single-aisle lines, opening the door for low-cost and other carriers to pursue more distant markets and longer, thinner routes than in the past.

挪威航空公司的跨大西洋航班就是一个最好的例子，尽管这家航空公司的财务状况仍然有些不稳定，但其他航空公司也紧随其后。例如，捷蓝航空就打算依托空中客车的A321neo机型提供跨大西洋航班服务。随着这个市场的发展，将影响MRO业务的完成。

Norwegian’s transatlantic services are a prime example, and while that airline’s finances remain somewhat precarious, other carriers are following in its wake. JetBlue Airways, for instance, intends to launch transatlantic flights with Airbus A321neo aircraft. As this market develops, it will affect where MRO is done.

基础维护 Base Maintenance

到目前为止，窄体机型的基础维护主要局限于运营商在本土地区或所属大洲的业务，美国运营商不大可能选择欧洲机库，反之亦然。另一方面，“宽体机型维护将发生在全球任何地方，主要由劳动力成本决定”，AAR负责维修及工程设计服务的高级副总裁Brian Sartain表示。

To date, narrowbody base maintenance has been confined largely to the home regions or continents of their operators, with U.S. carriers very unlikely to choose European hangars and vice-versa. On the other hand, “widebody maintenance will occur anywhere globally, determined primarily by labor costs,” says Brian Sartain, senior vice president of repair and engineering services for AAR. 

各大区域市场的窄体机大型检查主要是转场飞行的成本情况，以及某些情况下飞机航程跟中短途运输网络和日程表协调维修地点的愿望。

The primarily regional market for narrowbody heavy checks mainly is a function of the cost of ferry flights, a desire to coordinate maintenance locations with short-to-medium-haul networks and schedules and, in some cases, the range of the aircraft themselves.

Sartain称：“由于航空公司的航线结构依旧基本稳定，我们预计窄体机市场在提供维护方面将基本保持不变。”

 “We expect the narrowbody market to stay largely unchanged in terms of where maintenance is provided due to the route structure of the airlines remaining largely stable,” says Sartain. 

瑞士航空技术集团欧洲销售副总裁Conor O’Regan也支持这一观点。“到中程MRO设施的运渡飞航和设备成本经济有效，但将窄体飞机运送到它们的航程极限以确保更低成本的维护就变得不那么经济了。”

Conor O’Regan, vice president of sales for Europe at SR Technics, backs up this point. “Ferry flight and equipment costs up to mid-distance MRO facilities are economical, but ferrying narrowbody aircraft toward the limits of their range to secure lower-cost maintenance becomes much less economical.”

瑞士航空技术集团正在马耳他建造一处拥有六跨机库的窄体机维护设施，地理位置优越，可以吸引欧洲、中东及非洲地区的客户，以及“来自更远地区的租赁过渡”，O 'Regan表示。

SR Technics is building a narrowbody maintenance facility with a six-bay hangar in Malta, well-located to attract customers from Europe, the Middle East and Africa, as well as “from farther afield for lease transitions,” says O’Regan.

位于立陶宛共和国首都维尔纽斯的FL Technics公司通常能吸引到航行时间不超过3小时的窄体机乘客，但在飞行旺季可以延长到7小时，该公司首席执行官Zilvinas Lapinskas表示。他说：“由于维修旺季的维修机位很少，从而使我们吸引了更远地区的客户。”

Vilnius, Lithuania-based FL Technics usually attracts narrowbody customers within a 3-hr. flying time, but this can extend up to 7 hr. during busy periods, says CEO Zilvinas Lapinskas. “Slots in the maintenance season are scarce, which has led to us attracting clients from farther afield,” he says.

这一重要观点也得到了其他维护服务供应商的响应，表明MRO服务供应商的选择并不总是由价格、质量、周转时间和邻近程度决定，还取决于可用的容量。

This important point, echoed by other maintenance providers, illustrates how the choice of MRO provider is not always dictated solely by price, quality, turnaround time and proximity, but also by what capacity is available.

O'Regan称：“益发有限的MRO服务容量有时会迫使客户提前很长时间向更多的本地区域供应商预订机位，以避免非得长途跋涉才能找到维护机位的尴尬。”

 “Increasingly limited MRO capacity sometimes is forcing customers to book slots well in advance with more local regional providers to avoid having to travel longer distances to secure maintenance slots,” says O’Regan.

不过，一个相反的发展动态是，新一代窄体机往往需要更少的维修工时，并允许更长的间隔。他表示：“因此，对客户来说，为了维修而航行更远的距离，往往很不划算。”

However, an opposing dynamic is that newer-generation narrowbodies often require fewer maintenance manhours and allow longer intervals. “Thus flying longer ranges for maintenance events is less likely to be cost-effective for customers,” he says.

跟窄体机身MRO服务供应商相比，零部件商店可以吸引更遥远区域的客户前来维修。

Component shops can attract repair volumes from more distant customers than narrowbody airframe MRO providers.

迥然不同的是，对于宽体机，全球航线网络和更长的周转时间意味着航空公司可以跨度更广阔区域地选择维修服务供应商。

The situation is very different for widebodies, for which global route networks and longer turnaround times mean airlines have a far more geographically diverse choice of maintenance providers.

Sartain表示：“十年来，随着亚洲地区的低成本、宽体机维修服务供应商大量涌入MRO市场，亚太地区的MRO活动有所增加。”

 “With an influx of low-cost, widebody maintenance providers in Asia entering the MRO market over the last 10 years, we have seen an increase in MRO activity in the APAC region,” observes Sartain.

也就是说，有一些证据表明，随着亚洲航空公司的劳动力成本优势继续削弱，西方航空公司正在把宽体机大修服务带回到离本土更近的区域。

That said, there is some evidence that Western airlines are bringing widebody heavy maintenance back closer to home as the labor cost advantages of Asian providers continue to erode.

航线维护 Line Maintenance

尽管一些MRO公司已通过在新兴市场建立设施或者通过购买外国供应商的设施扩充了自己在该领域的业务覆盖范围，但航线维护的性质需要这类公司在临近客户的地方作业。大多数MRO公司还提供流动的飞机滞留地面（AOG）及移动维修团队，使其有更广泛的地域覆盖。

The nature of line maintenance means it needs to be performed close to the customer, although several MRO companies have expanded their reach in this field by establishing facilities in new markets or by buying foreign providers. Most also offer roving aircraft-on-ground (AOG) and mobile maintenance teams, which give them a wider geographical footprint.

“提供[航线及基础维护] 使瑞士航空技术集团维护团队意识到为客户有效解决AOG事件的重要性，同时还向更遥远地区的客户展示了我们的服务质量，使他们在遇到大修需求时会想到我们的马耳他维修厂”，O’Regan表示。

 “Providing [line and base maintenance] allows SR Technics maintenance teams to appreciate the importance of an effective recovery of an AOG event for one of our customers and demonstrates the quality of our services to more distant customers, encouraging them to consider our Malta facility for heavy maintenance business,” says O’Regan.

尽管很难在移动维修团队和后续维修合同之间找到直接联系，但Lapinskas赞同移动维修团队会使MRO服务供应商能向更广泛的客户展示其业务能力。

Lapinskas agrees that mobile teams allow an MRO provider to demonstrate its abilities to a wider array of customers, although it is difficult to draw a direct link between mobile teams and subsequent heavy maintenance contracts.

零部件及发动机维护 Component and Engine Maintenance

“MRO企业在区域内拥有定期而有效的贸易线，再加上有竞争力而且可靠的周转时间，零部件商店就可以吸引大量更遥远地区的客户过来维修”，O'Regan称。

 “Component shops can attract repair volumes from more distant customers, where the MRO has regular and efficient trade lanes established intra-regionally, coupled with competitive and reliable turnaround times,” says O’Regan.

Sartain指出，零部件维护通常仅限于航空公司的国内运营区域，但也有例外，比如变速箱和APU，他说这是一个“全球市场”。

Sartain notes that component maintenance is usually restricted to an airline’s home operating region, although exceptions are made for items such as gearboxes and APUs, for which he says there is a “global market.”

一个令人鼓舞的趋势是联营计划的发展，参与该计划的航空公司可以从附近的分销中心运来替换部件，并把旧部件送到世界任何地方进行修理后再运回联营。

One trend encouraging this has been the development of pooling programs, in which participating airlines draw a replacement part from a nearby distribution center and send off the old part for repair anywhere in the world before it returns to the pool.

O’Regan援引各大洲全球客户群在其苏黎世发动机维修中心采用瑞士航空技术集团的CFM56和PW4000维修服务反馈称，大多数MRO服务供应商都认同发动机维修是一个全球市场。

Most MRO providers agree that the market for engine repairs is worldwide, with O’Regan citing a global customer base from all continents for SR Technics’ CFM56 and PW4000 maintenance services at its Zurich engine center.

Lapinskas赞同：“发动机维护取决于需要完成的维修工作量——小型维修可以在卡车行驶距离内由机械师进行机翼或近机翼维护。主要工作对运输费用不太敏感；可用性、时间安排、周转时间和质量才是主要因素。”

Lapinskas agrees: “Engine maintenance depends on the scope of the work that needs to be done—minor repairs could be within truck-driving distance of the mechanic performing on- or near-wing maintenance. Major work is not that sensitive to transportation costs; availability, timing, turnaround time and quality are the main factors.”

同样，目前的重要因素是可用性。虽然航程更远的新款飞机和超长运程的低成本航空公司还没法重新划定维修市场的边界，但机库和维修机位的可用性极有可能会促使一些航空公司采用更远地区维修供应商的服务。

Again, these days an important factor is availability. For while newer, longer-range aircraft and the spread of long-haul, low-cost carriers might not be redrawing the boundaries of the maintenance market just yet, the availability of hangar and workshop slots is likely to push some carriers into the arms of more distant providers.

这条消息是Alex Derber在Inside MRO发表的文章。

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